Description

Following Garrett's previous adventure, the repercussions of his actions have changed the political landscape. The Hammerite religion has crumbled and a new leader named Karras has risen up to convert many of these fanatics over to the mysterious Order of Mechanists. Meanwhile, a new Sheriff has arrived in town and has been effective at cleaning up crime - maybe too much so. This is bad news for Garrett, whose profession of master thief puts him on the wrong side of the law. As the risk increases however, so too does the amount of treasure available to a skilled thief.

Thief II: The Metal Age keeps much of the same gameplay and abilities from the original Thief: The Dark Project, but also offers a few new items for the protagonist to use. Among them are scouting orbs, which can be thrown to see around corners and flash mines. The heart of the gameplay is still stealth, made up of Garrett's ability to stay quiet, stay hidden and keep signs of trouble out of anyone's view. Garrett's main weapons are his sword, his blackjack and an assortment of arrows, each with a special power. Each level features a variety of objectives as well as several items which don't belong to the protagonist, but are nonetheless valuable and can be stolen.

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Covermount release

Computer Gaming World shipped the complete game on their January 2004 DVD.

Engine

Thief II was developed with an enhanced version of the Dark Engine.

Menus

On many of the menus used in Thief II, you can see moving gears and machinery through the glass which may look familiar. In fact the menus are identical to those of the original Thief: The Dark Project, only a faceplate ("fancy covering") has been added over the graphics of the machinery. As a result the sound of the machinery is also muted.

Mods

In May 2005, five years after the original release, fans of the game presented their unofficial expansion: T2X: Shadows of the Metal Age, with 13 new levels, 10 new weapons, new characters and over 3.000 spoken lines. You play as a female thief, Zaya. The expansion can be downloaded here.

References

Brahm Gervaisius' ill-fated librarian in missions 13 & 14 is named Giles. It's probably not a coincidence that in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy's watcher Giles was the school librarian.